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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC)
INTC 46.96-2.8%Jan 16 9:30 AM EST
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To: f.simons who wrote (108630)8/27/2000 8:06:01 PM
From: Dan3  Read Replies (3) of 186894
 
Re: For a long time, increasing speed was important. Applications ran noticeably better for the average user on a p120 vs a 486. But now, you need complicated machinery to detect the difference ...

When the 486-25 came out, it was repeatedly stated that it wasn't expected to ever be used for desktops, only servers, because nobody would ever need that kind of speed on a desktop. I remember working with early 486 servers, and being awed by their speed.

Then Pentium was going to be a "server only" chip.

Then the Pentium Pro core (Pentium II).

etc.

I fell for it a couple of times, but I've learned. Developers keep finding a use for that power and pretty soon "more speed than anyone could use" becomes inadequate.

People don't buy machines for next week, they buy machines that will be useful for 2 to 3 years (or more). And it is always painful to have a machine less than about a third of the speed of current state of the art systems. Right now that's a 333. Next year it'll be a 600, and the year after that only 1 Gigahertz or faster will do.

People are buying for the year after next - they've learned the hard way that the cost and disruption of changing machines is such that getting an extra year out of a purchase is well worth spending a few extra dollars today.

Dan
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